Oh so lost and cold

[Xiao]

I, Isling wondered along the icy plain. I shivered as the cold hit me like a psychical blow. At lest I blended in a little bit with my white coat, but my cream on my legs would make me easy to spot. The white snow crunched under my paws as I walked deep in thought. I then turned my head and cursed under my breath as I realized I was lost. (Dang it.) I thought (Now where do I go.) I tossed my head as I was in a dilemma. My bracelet clanked against my leg as I wondered aimlessly, hoping I could find my way. I then stretched my delicate wings. I could fly, but that would make me so cold I would become a popsicle! I then after awhile found I was to cold to walk anymore. I then lay down in the snow, and closed my eyes. I felt snow falling down lightly on top of me, I knew I would be frozen soon. I then faintly heard something before I drifted off into half consciousness.

[Cen]

((This thread still open? ^^ And, is Isling a fae or brute?))

The pain inside is speaking to her
How could she feel like this
So aimless?

Aristocra landed heavily in the snow beneath her feet, folding her two pairs of wings close to her body just in time to keep them from being crushed as she tumbled several feet. For a moment she just lay there, dazed, the white-washed world spinning before her. Slowly she got up and shook herself off. As she looked around, ice-cold hopelessness and sorrow blanketed her heart as though it was the barren expanse of white before her coated with snow. She could see and detect no one for miles around. Would she, a wolf once exalted as a god, die here alone, without the one she came here to find?

She shut her eyes tight to resist the hot, sticky tears yearning to escape the confines of her eyes. She promised herself she wouldn't cry unless they were tears of joy upon finding her sister. Aristocra couldn't let herself give up hope. It would be selfish to wallow in her misery, and it would bring her no closer to finding her. When she opened her eyes again, they were filled with solid determination. She hadn't been given her earrings for nothing, and she would not turn back now. Lifting her head to the sky, she let out a long, desperate howl which asked one desperate question.

Ashada, where are you?

Lifting her forelegs off the ground, she leapt forward into a run which she could have sustained for days under normal circumstances. She wouldn't give up without a fight. She didn't realize it, but she was headed straight towards another wolf, this one white with cream patches on their legs, and would ram straight into them if she didn't stop, which she wouldn't for her life.

[Xiao]

(Isling is a girl.)
My grey eyes snapped open as I had felt though the snowy ground a manen running toward me. I rolled just in time, getting snow in my coat. I shook the snow out and paced to keep the cold from getting to me. "Who are you?" I growled "And who is this Ashada you spoke of?" I did not mind fighting and would if I had to. I growled with a threat in my voice, and my fur puffed up. I then listened for her answer.

[Cen]

((Ahh, ok))

She whispers, "I'll go home," and then she's reminded
She doesn't know where that is

Aristocra was so caught up in her thoughts and running trance that she didn't notice the white fae before her until she was perhaps fifteen feet away. She first noticed the streaks of grey in the white snow, and realized with alarm that she was about to run into someone. In an attempt to avoid tripping over her, she bunched her legs beneath her and launched herself over where the wolf. She didn't realize that the wolf had just rolled away, and the snow began filling in the hole just as she landed. Caught off guard, she tumbled a few feet away and slid to a stop on her side. She lifted her now snow-covered head slowly, dazed and confused.

The fae snarled, "Who are you? And who is this Ashada you speak of?" Aristocra jumped up, alarmed. It took a few moments for her brain to register the meaning of the words she spoke, and a few additional moments to register the emotions behind the words.

After spending a moment thinking about her responce, she decided to answer truthfully. "My calling is Aristocra," she began. "Ashada is who I am searching for." She knew the answer she gave was vague, and that the fae could probably have discovered that by the howl she had made earlier. However, she didn't like telling too much to strangers, and this was all she figured the fae needed to know for now.

She could help you if you told her a bit more, a part of her whispered. It was a tempting idea, and made her heart ache to simply spill out her story to this wolf. However, she knew that she would have to wait for a bit and give this wolf time to at least decide she wasn't a threat. Aristocra shook the snow off her pelt and waited for the white fae's responce.

[Xiao]

Isling snorted with laughter at the grey female who's head was covered in snow. I then showed concern, but my face became stone-like again. (I have got to be tough!) I snarled in my head. To many times had I been hurt, but never again I had thought. I growled as the information this Aristocra gave me was nothing new except for her name. I knew she was not a threat, but something inside me made me tense up. I charged at her hoping to get her of balance. (I must see if she fights back!) I leaped at her and pumped my wings and dove at her, soaring in the air. I then dove and went for her leg. If she knew I was testing her she would not try to hurt me. I was not trying to hurt her, and if she knew she would not try to kill me. If she were hostile she would see my lean muscles. I chuckled a empty chuckle for I was putting myself at a bit of a risk.

[Cen]

So you think you have me in your sights
I got news for you, I'm working overtime
^{Get On by Third Day}

Aristocra tilted her head, golden bracelets glowing slightly as she recieved many different emotional readings from this wolf. She was concerned, but immediately tried to hide it as her face became like stone again. The femme was hiding something from her - though that was natural, she supposed, since she was just a stranger to her. The glow in Aristocra's bracelets faded, and the femme's emotions faded out. She sighed pensively - she couldn't entirely control her special power yet, though it still seemed to pop up when it was useful to her.

Then she charged, the downstroke with her white wings blowing snow all around the surrounding area. Aristocra blinked in startlement which grew to outrage. What have I done to warrant such hostile action from her?[/color] was her first infuriated thought. However, something about her didn't seem quite as serious as a true fighter would. Her pose wasn't as rigid and determined as most opponents had been, and Aristocra even thought she heard her chuckle.

She quickly decided on a course of action. Leaping to the side, Aristocra landed first with her front paws, then turned the rest of her body so she would land facing the potential opponent. Though her posture was defensive, her eyes did not burn with the fire that a fighting frenzy gave. Instead, they were hard and questioning, asking for a reason for the fae's unwarranted attack. If she did not make another move on her, she would certainly have something to say to her.[/size]

[Xiao]

I dove at her half-heartily I thought (Why am I doing this again? Because I have to see how hostile she is! Never trust anyone ever!) I eyes teared over as I thought of him. I then missed and skid "Oh s***" I said as I lost control and headed toward a rock. My head smashed a icy rock, as my head hit the rock I fell heavily. My body hit the ground as I faded into unconsciousness.

[Cen]

I can't begin to know your sorrow
I have not walked far inside your shoes
^{I'll Stay by Cadia}

Aristocra's eyes narrowed as the white femme lunged again - and widened in surprise as they filled with tears and rammed straight into a boulder of ice. Though her Empathy was still dormant, she didn't need it to tell what her emotions had been before the fall. She started towards the white heap in concern - and then she stopped. She just tried to attack you! If you help her, she might do it again![/color] a more selfish part of her thought. Besides, you can move on to look for Ashada more quickly if you leave her alone.[/color] The thought sent a wave of sorrow over her, leaving her eyes drenched and overflowing onto the snow at her feet. When she thought of it that way...

Still, she did not leave just yet. What would Ashada say if she learned that Aristocra had left a wolf to fend for herself and possibly die out in the Arctic because she was too impatient in the search for her sister? Ashada would be dissapointed in her, and may possibly feel responsible for the situation. For just a moment, she let the memories of her sister fill her mind and let her decide what she would say were she really next to her.

Help her, Aristocra. I can wait.[/color]

Though it took every ounce of willpower she had, she turned her head away from the vast stretch of white behind her. Approaching the femme slowly and cautiously, Aristocra stretched out her head and tenaciously licked her face a few times to see if she could get her to wake up.[/size]

[Xiao]

I felt her warm wet tongue licking my face and my grey eyes hazily opened. I tried to get up but I walk a bit in a zig-zag line, crimson blood dyeing the white snow around me. The snow felt cold as I fell back down. (Why is she trying to save me?) I thought as I realized I could not get up and my head was throbbing painfully. As I tried to keep my eyes open they showed confusion, confused that my life had been spared. My head was bleeding, I knew that but everything felt like I was dreaming, a feather light dream that if I tried to touch it it would fade away. I felt strange, like why had she spared me. My heart was aching and felt like it would bust out of my chest. I felt such strong emoticons I thought I would die.

[Cen]

You're moving faster than an unbound train
Trying to find a way to outrun pain

Aristocra watched closely as the femme got up, stumbled about some and then fell back down. She seemed incoherent and confused, and the blood she was losing was probably draining her concentration. When her head hit the snow again, Aristocra walked over with long, quick strides, her white paws being stained by the bright red pools of blood she was stepping in. She bent her head to examine the wound - and then realized that she had no experience whatsoever in healing, and had not a clue where to start.

Oh, s***,[/color] she thought in frusturation. What did the healer back in my old pack do to a large wound like this? Aristocra racked her memory, reaping only a small amount of information for every field of memory she harvested. The healers would clean the wound... and sometimes use some herbs on it... usually they would cover it with something... to stop the bleeding...

Aristocra's nose wrinkled in distaste as she realized what her first step was, but she knew she had no other choice. She began licking the wound on the femme's white head. The rancid flavor of blood attacked her tongue, and bile rose in her throat. For a moment she withdrew, spat at the snow beside her, and began again. Slowly the outlines of the wound began to appear, and she began to think about what her next step should be.[/size]

[Xiao]

I knew she was trying to help me. God I felt so confused. I had a tidal waves of emoticons. I thought she would kill me but she was helping me. I had grown up without care, but I had met someone. I then felt such a strong hate I was sure the other female had felt it. The hate was not for her but for my life and him. I then felt such hate I felt like my wound not longer mattered. I must live to kill him and have his blood stain my paws. I must live to bite my teeth into his neck and taste his blood spilling from his jugular. I must try to live to kill him.

[Cen]

Please don't let it end this way
You could wait another day

Aristocra sighed as she looked around, scanning the ground for something that would work as a bandage to the fae's wound. All she found was snow and ice, and that certainly wouldn't work - the cold would spread throughout her bloodstream and hypothermia would kill her before the bleeding did. As a substitute for the bandadge she could not find, she covered the large wound with her paw to temporarily staunch the bleeding. Her bracelets instantly glowed as she made contact with the fae. What came next was so powerful that, as it washed over her, for a moment it consumed her as it was consuming the other and made her long for the taste of blood...

Hatred.

The startlement she felt at this emotion and how profoundly powerful it had been was enough for Aristocra to suddenly withdraw her paw and stumble backwards a few steps. Was this wolf angry at her for saving her life? But no, the anger was not felt towards her. It was towards something else, though her Empathy was not yet powerful enough to develop a clear image of what that thing was. Shaking her head slowly, she stared at the fae in sorrow. Whatever happened to you to make you so bitter?[/color] she wondered.

In any case, putting her paw over the wound to staunch the bleeding was out of the question now. If an anger like that consumed Aristocra again, it could be detrimental to the fae. She looked around desperately, seeing nothing that could bandage the wound. And then it hit her. You have more wings than most wolves need, so use them![/color] Sighing, Aristocra turned around to look at her wings. It was true that she could fly using only one pair if she had to, though she had flown all her life with all for of them, so it would be hard. She reached around, closed her muzzle around three or so secondaries and pulled. She flinched as pain hit the wing, and it stung badly while she folded it tightly against her side to keep it from bleeding. Walking over to the fae once more, she pressed the feathers firmly to the wound until they stayed. It was a sad excuse for a bandage, but it would have to do until she could find something else.[/size]

[Xiao]

I lifted my heavy head from the hard, snowy, ground. "I'm....not...going...to....die...yet." I gasped the words out, as I felt her soft, light, feathery wings on my wound. I then felt the blood slow, and then stop. I felt happy, knowing I would live for awhile longer.

[Cen]

((Sorry for the wait =/ I'll reply more often once school sorts itself out.))

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through
We'll make it through

Once the bandage had been applied, Aristocra backed up a bit to give the fae room and to watch and see what she would do next. After a moment, her head lifted from the print it had made in the snow, a few feathers floating to the ground as they were shaken from their position on the wound by this disturbance. "I'm... not... going... to... die... yet," she gasped, the words barely above a whisper yet so full of solid determination. Though outwardly Aristocra sighed of relief, this relief was superficial - she was worried. Worried about how much care the femme would require, and how much time it would take away from Aristocra's own ventures. Worried about the blind hatred she had felt before. Worried about the fact that she had tried to attack her in the first place.

However, for the moment she spoke of none of this. It wasn't what the fae needed right then, and at least for the time being that was what Aristocra needed to think about. Therefore, she nodded and said, "Good. Don't give up yet." Her mind wandered to the moment when she and Ashada would meet again, and the stories they would be able to tell each other... Aristocra would be proud to say that she had saved someone's life. Of course, she would leave out the minor details... She didn't need to know about the fight. Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she focused again on the femme she had begun to heal.

[Xiao]

I wondered why she was helping we. My anger, hurt, fear, and evil where still there, but for now they were gone. I fell into a easy sleep with my ribs just going up and down. I would live! With that one thought that I made myself believe everything felt better. In my dreams my child came and we danced in the spinning blizzard of snow, the feather light snowflakes landed in our coats, but did not weigh us down. We where two happy manens. As we danced we got bored and played instead. We jumped and spun and then I was back. I opened my grey eyes a tiny bit, but I saw that my baby was not there. I snorted softly, and whispered in a soft voice, "That was too good to be true." How I missed my baby. I felt tears stinging my eyes, and I thought, (God no I must appear still strong!) so I held back the tears, but my head injury felt better, and I hoped this manen knew what she was doing.